Res. No. 476
Title
Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.327/S.5879 and A.8538/S.5670, to require prescribing physicians to perform additional actions, such as counseling the patient on the risks of addiction and overdose, when prescribing certain opioids.
Body
By Council Member Holden
Whereas, Opioid abuse and death are at epidemic levels in the United States (U.S.), and, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in America in 2016; and
Whereas, Opioids include narcotics intended to manage pain from surgery, injury, or illness, and individuals who require surgery are at higher risk of opioid addiction; and
Whereas, According to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post, more than 4 in 10 long-term opioid users say they started taking painkillers for chronic pain, 25 percent started because of pain after a surgery, and 25 percent because of pain after an accident or injury; and
Whereas, According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), there was a total of 8,811,216 opioid analgesic prescriptions provided to New York State residents in 2016, and 30 million prescriptions provided from 2014-2016; and
Whereas, The crude rate of opioid analgesic prescriptions in 2016 was 443.8 out of 1,000 individuals in New York State and 288.9 out of 1,000 in New York City; and
Whereas, Between 2013 and 2015, at least 5,240 people in New York State between the ages of 18 and 64 died from opioid overdose, and 1,645 of those individuals were located in New York City; and
Whereas, According to New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), overdose deaths in New York City remained at epidemic levels in 2017, and every 7 hours someone in New York City dies from a drug overdose; and
Whereas, An estimated 1,441 people died in New York City from drug overdose in 2017, ...
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